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Public input sought Feb. 12 on NMSU's preservation plan

Building a future by preserving the past is the target of a public meeting to discuss plans to preserve New Mexico State University's architectural heritage.

NMSU's Facilities Planning and Construction Department is inviting Las Cruces and surrounding-area residents, the media and the campus community to provide input on the preservation plans, which will be presented from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, at William B. Conroy Honors Center on the historic Horseshoe at the main campus of NMSU.

Van Citters: Historic Preservation, LLC (VCHP), of Albuquerque, will make the presentation. The firm is responsible for conducting a historic assessment and composing the preservation plan.

"We value what members of the community have to say about NMSU's campus," said William A. Dodge, Ph.D., cultural historian at VCHP.

"By monitoring the public's input and preservation issues at NMSU, we hope to learn about both the tangible and intangible qualities of the university's buildings and landscapes, and what especially resonates with people about the physical environment of the campus," he said.

The historic preservation plan is being funded through a Campus Heritage Grant issued in 2005 from The Getty Foundation, which will help NMSU assess the architectural and historical significance of buildings, structures and landscapes at the main campus, with an eye toward protecting those resources.

The structures will also be assessed for listing some of them on state and national historic registers, including the National Register of Historic Places.

For more information about the meeting and about NMSU's preservation plan, please contact Greg Walke, Assistant University Architect, at (575) 646-1360 or e-mail him at walke@nmsu.edu.